6 June 2016 - the source of life

[ Today's Readings ]

“As the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, whom I serve,
during these years there shall be no dew or rain except at my word.”

We need to recognize that the LORD is the source of all blessings. Every good thing is from him. When we forget this the LORD sometimes permits us to be afflicted by drought or famine. It is for our good that he reminds us that he is the source of blessings. If we seek life apart from him we shall not find it. And he wants us to find life.

It is the poor in spirit who are sufficiently free from this world to inherit the Kingdom of heaven.

It is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness more than food and drink who will be satisfied.

Mourning the things of this world to which we are overly attached frees us to receive the comfort of the Comforter, the Holy Spirit.

If we think we can provide for our own stability in life we stumble. But if we are meek we inherit a land built on solid rock.

If we are unwilling to show mercy to others we are in no position to receive it ourselves. We don't recognize how much each of us depends on the mercy of God. The man forgiven the unpayable debt is clearly so focused on himself that he can't appreciate what is done for him, nor do the same for those who owe him much less. Instead he still claws and grabs to establish himself apart from mercy.

We need to recognize our dependence on the mercy of God. This is how our hearts get clean. We live in the world but we are not of it. We use the things of the world but remember that they are passing. We become peacemakers because wars among us originate from our passions (see James 4:1), and our passions are tamed by the Passion of Jesus. We can even bear insults and persecution now, because it is no longer all about us and our pride.

The LORD does not cease to bestow the true nourishment we require.

You shall drink of the stream,
and I have commanded ravens to feed you there.

Let us put the LORD first, neighbors second, and the world in a distant third.

I lift up my eyes toward the mountains;
whence shall help come to me?
My help is from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.